How to deposit a large sum of money
If you've amassed a large sum of money at home instead of putting cash in the bank, you may be wondering if it's even possible to deposit it once you've had a change of heart.
The answer is yes, but there are some caveats.
Specifically, when you deposit over $10,000, your bank is required by the Bank Secrecy Act to report it to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Your bank may ask some personal questions, including why you're depositing such a large sum, so you must be prepared to answer them.
To be clear, if you've done nothing wrong, earned the money legitimately and paid taxes on it, this reporting requirement shouldn't worry you. You just need to know about it so you aren't caught off-guard by the bank's queries.
What you don't want to do, though, is break up your big deposit into a series of smaller ones to evade reporting rules. This is called “structuring” and it's illegal even if you earned the money legitimately.
It’s also a good idea to call the bank in advance of making a large deposit. Showing up with $650,000 in cash could cause problems if the financial institution isn't prepared to handle that much all at once. Your bank can work with you to find a safe way to deposit the money.
As for how much of your cash is protected, you should be aware that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) only insures up to $250,000 per person, per FDIC-insured bank, per account ownership category. So, simply depositing $650,000 into a single bank account might not be the best move. You may want to spread out your money across different accounts and possibly at more than one institution so you don't risk losing funds if another bank collapse happens sometime in the future. Understanding deposit insurance can be key.
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Correction, Nov. 8, 2024: This story has be updated to accurately reflect FDIC insurance limits.
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